According to The Ledger, Joshua Phillips was charged with first-degree murder, and his trial began in July 1999. Despite only being 14 at the time of Clifton’s killing, the prosecution decided to try him as an adult. There was a mountain of evidence against him, including bloody shoes, the baseball he used to hit Clifton, and the knife he stabbed her with (via News4JAX ). Most importantly, Phillips had confessed to the murder (per All That’s Interesting). Ultimately, the prosecution believed that Clifton’s killing had been for sexual reasons.
The Florida Times-Union states that Phillips had watched pornography before and after the murder. When her remains were found, Clifton was nude from the waist. However, she had not been sexually assaulted. Phillips explained that her clothes had fallen off because he had dragged Clifton into his room. CBS News reports that Phillips also maintained his story — he accidentally hit Clifton and was scared that his father would find out that he had disobeyed him.
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At the trial, Phillips’ lawyer, Richard Nichols, stated (per News4JAX) that her death was the result of an “act that began as an accident and deteriorated through panic that bordered on madness.” Another article from CBS News writes that a psychologist was hired to help Phillips’ case. He argued that Phillips was not a sociopath and was simply “very terrified of his father.” In the end, Phillips, then 15, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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